Month: November 2024

Hornets’ Bridges Increasing Value After Not Signing Extension

After earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors based on his performance through the Hornets‘ three games, Miles Bridges hasn’t fallen off at all during his last two contests. The fourth-year forward is averaging 26.2 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 1.8 SPG with a shooting line of .527/.395/.909 through five games (35.2 MPG).

While it’s very early and Bridges almost certainly won’t maintain that pace, he was nearly a 50/40/90 shooter last season and seems capable of handling an increase in usage without his efficiency taking a major hit. As Zach Lowe of ESPN writes, Bridges is poised to become a “better offensive player – and sooner – than even the Hornets anticipated.” If Charlotte had expected this from the 23-year-old, Lowe adds, the team would’ve made a stronger push to lock him up to a rookie scale extension earlier this month.

Discussing Bridges’ impressive play on his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that the Hornets’ initial extension offer to Bridges was in the range of $15MM per year.

“When he was in negotiations for his extension, I’m told that the Hornets’ baseline offer was four years, $60MM,” Windhorst said. “… That was Charlotte’s baseline offer. They may have come up, but they were never really close.”

As Windhorst points out, once three-and-D forward Mikal Bridges signed a four-year, $90MM rookie scale extension with the Suns, there was no chance the Hornets were going to be able to lock up their own Bridges for anything in the neighborhood of $60MM. In fact, if the former Michigan State standout can maintain anything close to his current pace, he could match or exceed Mikal’s $90MM on his next deal.

It’s too late for the Hornets to sign Bridges to a rookie scale extension, but the club will be in the driver’s seat when he reaches restricted free agency next summer. There won’t be many teams with the cap room available to make Bridges an aggressive offer, and the Hornets – who have a relatively clean cap sheet going forward – would be able to match any offer sheet he signs. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the young forward this season to see just how high he can boost his value ahead of his looming free agency.

Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team

On Thursday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2021/22 season. Although that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the current season, not every NBA team was represented. Four of the league’s 30 franchises – the Spurs, Pistons, Grizzlies, and Thunder – didn’t have a single player in the top 50.

Our list of highest-paid players for 2021/22 also only provided a snapshot for this year. For example, Gary Harris, who cracked the top 50, will be well compensated for the coming season but is on an expiring contract and will almost certainly fall off that list next year.

Today, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list, as well as identifying some of the league’s most lucrative multiyear commitments — we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the 2021/22 season and its highest-paid player in total.

Let’s dive in…


Atlanta Hawks

  • 2021/22: John Collins ($23,000,000)
  • Total: Trae Young (six years, $180,826,471)
    • Note: The amount owed to Young would increase to $215,386,471 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2022. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $119MM salary cap for 2022/23. Young’s final year is a player option.

Boston Celtics

  • 2021/22: Jayson Tatum ($28,103,500)
  • Total: Jayson Tatum (five years, $163,000,300)

Brooklyn Nets

  • 2021/22: James Harden ($44,310,840)
  • Total: Kevin Durant (five years, $239,675,808)
    • Note: Durant’s five-year earnings include $233,423,808 in base salaries and $6,252,000 in likely incentives.

Charlotte Hornets

  • 2021/22: Gordon Hayward ($29,925,000)
  • Total: Terry Rozier (five years, $114,163,957)
    • Note: A small amount ($1,718,905) of Rozier’s fifth-year salary is non-guaranteed.

Chicago Bulls

  • 2021/22: DeMar DeRozan ($26,000,000)
  • Total: DeMar DeRozan (three years, $81,900,000)

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

  • 2021/22: Nikola Jokic ($31,579,390)
    • Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $30,510,423 base salary and $1,068,967 in likely incentives.
  • Total: Michael Porter Jr. (six years, $177,758,735)
    • Note: The amount owed to Porter could get as high as $212,318,735 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2022. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $119MM salary cap for 2022/23. Porter’s final year is only partially guaranteed for $12MM.

Detroit Pistons

  • 2021/22: Jerami Grant ($20,002,500)
  • Total: Cade Cunningham (four years, $45,599,089)
    • Note: Cunningham’s third and fourth years are team options. Grant has the most total guaranteed money (two years, $40,957,500) of any Piston.

Golden State Warriors

  • 2021/22: Stephen Curry ($45,780,966)
  • Total: Stephen Curry (five years, $261,134,628)

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Amir Johnson, Pooh Jeter Among G League Ignite Vets For 2021/22

Big men Amir Johnson and Jessie Govan are returning to the G League Ignite for a second season, and they’ll be joined by forward Malik Pope and guards Dakarai Allen, Amauri Hardy, and Pooh Jeter, our JD Shaw relays (via Twitter).

The Ignite is the G League’s developmental program for top prospects, but those young players are complemented by a handful of NBA and NBAGL vets who fill out the roster and serve as mentors.

Among this year’s group, Johnson is the only one with extensive NBA experience, having appeared in 870 total games for the Pistons, Raptors, Celtics, and Sixers from 2005-19. He averaged 8.5 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 15 games (13.3 MPG) for the Ignite last season.

Jeter, who will turn 38 in December, played in 62 games for Sacramento back in 2010/11, but has spent most of his professional career overseas.

Allen and Pope, who went undrafted out of San Diego State in 2017 and 2018, respectively, have multiple years of G League experience between them, and Pope has also played in Greece and Germany as well.

Hardy, meanwhile, went undrafted out of Oregon earlier this year and presumably earned a spot on the team in large part because his brother Jaden Hardy, a projected top-five pick in 2022, is the Ignite’s top recruit this year.

Besides Jaden Hardy, who is ESPN’s No. 3 ranked prospect for the 2022 draft, the Ignite roster features Dyson Daniels (No. 16), Michael Foster (No. 31), MarJon Beauchamp (No. 53), Chinese forward Fanbo Zeng (not in ESPN’s top 100), and 17-year-old Scoot Henderson (not draft-eligible until 2023). ESPN’s Mike Schmitz (Insider link) shared his thoughts on this year’s roster ahead of the Ignite’s preseason debut on Friday night vs. Iowa.

The Ignite won’t be part of the standard G League regular season that runs from December to April, but the club will compete in the NBAGL’s inaugural “Showcase Cup,” a tournament which tips off on November 5 and ends just before Christmas.

Eastern Notes: Harden, Gafford, Simmons, Barnes

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday about his slow start to the season, Nets guard James Harden explained that he’s still shaking off the rust since he didn’t get to play much during an offseason that was mostly spent rehabbing his hamstring injury.

“I had no opportunities to play pickup or nothing this summer,” Harden said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Everything was rehab for three months, from a Grade 2 injury that happened three times in one season. So this is my fifth game of trying to just play with competition against somebody else. And as much as I want to rush the process and be back to hooping and killing, (you have to) take your time.”

Harden, who has rarely had to deal with injuries since entering the league in 2009, admitted it was “frustrating” and “draining” to battle the hamstring issue down the stretch last season and over the summer. However, he said that he thinks he’s “getting better every single game.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Wizards center Daniel Gafford appears to have avoided a major injury after undergoing an MRI on his right quad contusion. Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said on Thursday that he expects Gafford to be back in a mater of days, not weeks (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post).
  • There’s no set timeline for Ben Simmons, who told the Sixers last Friday that he’s not yet mentally ready to play, but he has been at the team’s practice facility during the last week, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He’s been working out,” head coach Doc Rivers said on Thursday. “Today he was at shootaround, did a lot of shooting and a lot of stuff with (skills development coach) Spencer (Rivers).”
  • With the Raptors set to face the Magic for the first time this season on Friday, the Scottie Barnes/Jalen Suggs debate has resurfaced, but fans in Toronto have to be happy with what they’ve seen from Barnes so far, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Barnes, whom the Raptors picked over Suggs at No. 4 in this year’s draft, has averaged 17.0 PPG and 8.2 RPG on 53.7% shooting in his first five NBA games while taking on some challenging defensive assignments.

Los Angeles Notes: Hartenstein, Clippers Bench, Anthony, James

Isaiah Hartenstein won a training camp battle with Harry Giles for the last spot on the Clippers roster and has emerged as a solid reserve, Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register writes.

Hartenstein has averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 15.3 MPG through three appearances and has developed chemistry with Clippers wing Luke Kennard. “I think we just really know how to play with each other,” said Hartenstein, who is on a one-year, minimum-salary contract.

We have more from the Los Angeles teams:

  • Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that Hartenstein, Kennard and Terance Mann learned how to blend their talents during training camp, Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes. “They understand their unit, how they play,” Lue said. “Move bodies, move the basketball.” Kennard is averaging 11.5 PPG and Mann is averaging 8.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 3.5 APG.
  • LeBron James said the league missed the boat on new Lakers teammate Carmelo Anthony, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. Anthony struggled to find another NBA opportunity until he hooked on with Portland during the 2019/20 season. “He’s been doing it for quite a while, and it’s just beautiful to continue to see, especially when, you know, they gave up on him,” James said. Anthony, who signed a veteran’s minimum contract this summer, had a 28-point game on Sunday and is averaging 14.0 PPG so far with his new team.
  • James is questionable to play on Friday due to right ankle soreness, McMenamin tweets. He has missed the last two games after playing 40 minutes on Sunday. Rajon Rondo has also been listed as questionable due to a similar injury, McMenamin adds.

Northwest Notes: Porter Jr., Mitchell, Lillard, Wolves Offense

Nikola Jokic has a sore knee, but Nuggets coach Michael Malone is equally concerned about Michael Porter Jr.‘s slow start, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Signed to a five-year max extension in late September, Porter is averaging just 11.5 PPG while shooting 34.6% from the field.

“We’ve got to get Michael Porter going,” Malone said. “He’s four games in, and I know that he’s capable of playing at a much higher level — from a shooting standpoint, his efficiency, his rebounding, his defense — so we’ve got to get more from Michael Porter.”

Jokic is questionable to play on Friday.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Jazz, particularly new owner Ryan Smith, are going out of their way to keep Donovan Mitchell happy, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report writes. Mitchell has voiced to Jazz officials his desire to see more Black men in the organization and it has added a number of them in recent hires. Mitchell is in the first year of a five-year, $163MM contract.
  • There was a lot of speculation regarding Damian Lillard‘s future with the Trail Blazers during the offseason but he appears content now, Mark Medina of NBA.com writes. Lillard has become a strong believer in first-year coach Chauncey Billups, who led the Pistons to the 2004 championship. “I think it’ll just continue to get better,” Lillard said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me to see something different and to learn. (Billups) knows the way to help myself and him, as a coach, to become a champion.”
  • The Timberwolves are off to a 3-1 start despite shooting 42.6% from the field and averaging 16.3 turnovers per game. They’re still trying to strike the perfect balance, led by their Big Three of Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “That is the balance when you give everybody as much freedom as we do,” coach Chris Finch said. “Kat, Ant, D-Lo, they have the license to break the offense, if you will, or be aggressive within it is probably a better way to put it. They can’t just always live off doing it with the first pass or first action and I think that’s where we’re living right now.”

Southwest Notes: Morant, Burke, Wieskamp, Temple

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant says he’s motivated by his desire to be recognized as an All-Star player, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports writes. Morant, who has been on a scoring tear this season, averaging 30.5 PPG and 8.5 APG, says he has a chip on his shoulder after being passed over for the All-Star Game in his first two NBA seasons.

“I feel like it took me averaging 35 points a game to finally get some All-Star recognition,” Morant said. “But, I really can’t speak too much on that. I feel like my chip will never leave.”

We have more on the Southwest Division:

  • Mavericks guard Trey Burke will not play against San Antonio on Thursday due to COVID-19 protocols, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Burke is not sick, but he missed part of his protocol sequence, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Unvaccinated players are required to go through more COVID protocols between games than those who are vaccinated. Burke, who is signed through 2022/23, has only made two brief appearances this season.
  • Rookie Joe Wieskamp is taking a positive approach to being assigned to the G League by the Spurs, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. “It was really fun to be around the (NBA) team and go to the games, but obviously we weren’t getting too many minutes, if at all,” he said. “This gives us an opportunity to go out there and play and develop.” The former Iowa wing is playing on a two-way contract.
  • Pelicans guard Garrett Temple is doubtful to play on Friday after injuring his ankle on Wednesday, according to a post on the team’s website. “It’s still pretty sore with his left ankle,” coach Willie Green said. “We’re not sure about (Temple’s availability for) tomorrow, but we’ll know more as we get closer to the game.”

Eastern Notes: Rose, Magic Injuries, Jackson, Markkanen

Derrick Rose considered retirement a few years ago due to persistent knee injuries, but he doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “Hopefully, I’m going to try to Tom Brady this thing, play as long as possible, make sure I really take care of my body,” he said. “And if I’m playing play with joy. I don’t have to score 30 points a night anymore to affect the game.” Rose re-signed with the Knicks on a three-year deal this summer.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Magic fans are irritated by the team’s lack of transparency regarding injury updates on Markelle FultzJonathan Isaac and Chuma Okeke, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. Fultz and Isaac are still rehabbing from knee injuries, while Okeke has been out since training camp with a bone bruise in his hip. No timetable has been announced for any of those players.
  • Rookie forward Isaiah Jackson will be “out for a while,” according to Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, due to a hamstring injury, David Woods of The Indianapolis Star reports. The 22nd pick of the draft was injured during the Pacers’ game on Wednesday. “He’s walking in a brace, so that’s good good news, compared to the severity that there could have been,” Carlisle said.
  • Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff credits Lauri Markkanen with making the team’s jumbo lineup effective, Kelsey Russo of The Athletic writes. Markkanen has played small forward in lineups with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the floor. “The biggest shoutout has to go to Lauri Markkanen,” Bickerstaff said of the former Bulls forward. “To me, he’s the reason why it works. His willingness to do that, and again, sacrifice some comfort. He’s the reason why we’ve been able to get away with it so far and why it’s been able to work.”

Heat Notes: Morris, Garrett, Martin, Haslem

After being used mostly as a floor-spacing big man with the Lakers over the last couple seasons, Markieff Morris is happy he’s getting more opportunities to operate inside the three-point arc with the Heat this season, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

“I’m finally back to basically where I had success at in the league early in my career,” Morris said this week. “For me personally, the game has changed a lot from when I first came in to now. Over here, these guys are doing a great job of letting me just play my game, and they’re playing to my strengths.”

Morris, who said he played a bit of a “one-dimensional” role in Los Angeles, averaged 3.4 three-point attempts and 2.8 two-pointers per game last season. So far this season, he’s attempting 2.3 threes and 5.3 two-pointers per contest.

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • With G League training camps underway, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said the plan is for Marcus Garrett to spend plenty of time with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBAGL affiliate, this season, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, the team’s other two-way player, Caleb Martin, is less likely to be sent on assignments to Sioux Falls, since Spoelstra views him as a “plug-and-play guy” for the Heat.
  • Asked why he decided to re-sign with the Heat again this summer, Udonis Haslem told Tyler R. Tynes of GQ that he believes he can inspire young players fighting to earn their place in the NBA. “I coulda quit a long time ago. But there’s (always) been another guy that comes in that reminds me of me: that wants an opportunity, that needs an opportunity, that deserves an opportunity,” Haslem said. “Every year I can find another Udonis Haslem that walks in that locker room. And I’m re-inspired and re-energized. I still have game to give. I still have my passion. I see those guys walk in the locker room and I’m just reborn again. It goes to the Bam Adebayos and Tyler Johnsons and the habits we create in this organization.”
  • Within an extensive conversation with Tynes, Haslem discussed “Heat Culture,” the team’s Big Three era, and the evolution of his role in the locker room over the years. The veteran big man, who is in his 19th season, also suggested that he’d like to play one more season beyond 2021/22: “If I can get 20 years, it’ll be an amazing career for a kid that no one thought would play in the league. All my sacrifices, everything I’ve given, the only thing I’ve asked for is to try to get to 20. I wanna give that to myself, and I wanted to give it to my father (who recently passed away).”

2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Orlando Magic

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Orlando Magic.


Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Robin Lopez: One year, $5MM. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Moritz Wagner: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • E’Twaun Moore: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Ignas Brazdeikis: Two-way contract.

Trades:

  • Acquired the Pistons’ 2026 second-round pick and cash from the Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Jason Preston (No. 33 pick).

Draft picks:

  • 1-5: Jalen Suggs
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $29,955,705).
  • 1-8: Franz Wagner
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $22,781,932).

Contract extensions:

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Hired Jamahl Mosley as head coach to replace Steve Clifford.
  • Hired Nate Tibbetts, Jesse Mermuys, Dale Osbourne, Bret Brielmaier, and Lionel Chalmers as assistant coaches; lost assistants Tyrone Corbin, Pat Delany, Steve Hetzel, and Michael Batiste.
  • Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz continue to recover from ACL tears and are sidelined to start the season.
  • Michael Carter-Williams is recovering from ankle surgery and is sidelined to start the season.
  • Chuma Okeke is dealing with a bone bruise in his hip and is sidelined to start the season.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $113.7MM in salary.
  • $4,536,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($5MM used on Robin Lopez).
  • Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
  • Three traded player exception available, including one worth $17.2MM.

The Magic’s offseason:

A whirlwind 2021 trade deadline paved the way for the Magic to have a relatively quiet offseason. Back in March, Orlando decided to launch a full-scale rebuild and finalized three separate trades that sent Nikola Vucevic to Chicago, Aaron Gordon to Denver, and Evan Fournier to Boston.

That type of roster overhaul is more common during the summer than midway through the season, but the Magic had been hit hard by injuries and had lost 27 of 35 games leading up to the deadline after winning six of eight to open the year. They weren’t going to make the playoffs and they were in a position to be one of the league’s few major in-season sellers, so they struck early.

That decisiveness allowed the Magic to perhaps extract more for Vucevic than they would’ve if they’d taken a more patient approach. When the Bulls sent their top-four protected 2021 first-rounder to Orlando in the package for the standout center, they were presumably counting on grabbing one of the last couple playoff spots in the East and sacrificing a pick in the 15-16 range. Instead, Chicago struggled down the stretch and had to convey the No. 8 overall pick to the Magic.

The Magic’s draft luck continued when, despite having their own pick land at No. 5 in the lottery, they were able to land one of the consensus top-four prospects in the 2021 class. Toronto surprised observers by snagging Scottie Barnes at No. 4, allowing Jalen Suggs to slip to Orlando.

Whether Suggs will turn out to be a better pro than Barnes remains to be seen, but the former Gonzaga guard was the higher-ranked player on most experts’ – and, by all accounts, most teams’ – draft boards. The Magic likely could’ve extracted a significant price from a club interested in trading up for Suggs, so staying put and selecting him – even with point guards Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony already locked up for the next three years – is a good indication they’re high on his potential.

Orlando used its second lottery pick (courtesy of the Bulls) to select Michigan’s Franz Wagner, a talented young forward who looks capable of becoming an impact player on both sides of the ball. The idea of pairing Wagner with Jonathan Isaac – once Isaac gets healthy – and letting the two young forwards loose on the defensive end is a tantalizing one.

While adding Suggs and Wagner were the Magic’s major moves of the summer, the team also decided to invest long-term in Wendell Carter after acquiring the former Bulls big man in the Vucevic trade. The price Orlando paid – $50MM over four years – suggests the team is confident the former Duke standout can continue to improve after putting up pretty similar numbers in each of his first three seasons.

Even if Carter plateaus, the contract will never be an albatross. Its descending structure means it will be worth just $10.85MM by its final year in 2025/26, making it a good trade chip if WCJ is no longer in Orlando’s plans by then.

The Magic were relatively quiet on the trade market and made just a couple free agent additions, bringing in steady veterans Robin Lopez and E’Twaun Moore on inexpensive one-year contracts. Lopez, in particular, is a heady player who will be able to impart plenty of knowledge on young big men Carter and Mohamed Bamba over the course of the season.

Orlando’s offseason was ultimately defined by the rookies it added, both on and off the court — besides drafting Suggs and Wagner, the team hired first-time head coach Jamahl Mosley to replace Steve Clifford. Mosley gained a strong reputation for player development during his time in Dallas under Rick Carlisle and will be tasked with guiding a young Magic team through the toughest stage of its rebuild. The losses will come early and often for Mosley, but if guys like Suggs, Wagner, Fultz, and Isaac are improving under his tutelage, he’ll be doing his job.


The Magic’s season:

The Eastern Conference will be competitive this season, with 12 or 13 teams eyeing a playoff berth or at least a play-in spot. The odds of the Magic joining that group are slim — they and the Pistons are good bets to occupy the 14th and 15th spots in the conference, in some order.

Still, there are some intriguing building blocks here, especially once the team gets healthier. Suggs, Wagner, Carter, Fultz, Isaac, Bamba, Anthony, Chuma Okeke, and R.J. Hampton aren’t all future stars, but there’s plenty of untapped upside in that group, and the Magic have the ability to add a few more assets to their collection by trading Terrence Ross at some point in the coming months.

There’s a long way to go before the Magic will be talking about contending again, but the rebuild has taken a good first step or two this year.


Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.